Senate calls for North East Development Commission’s headquarter to be relocated to Maiduguri

ABUJA, OCTOBER 13, 2016 – Following the presentation of the report on the Committee of the North East Development Commission by Senator Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North) to the Senate on Tuesday, the Senate has resolved to take the headquarter of the commission to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.The report when presented recommended that 3% of Value Added Tax (VAT) be paid to the Commission’s vault for the next ten years to enable the reconstruction of wanton destruction of the zone by Boko Haram insurgents.

However, Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) objected to VAT remittances on the ground that part of VAT is derived from alcohol, which remains a banned substance in the North on religious grounds.

Reacting, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume argued that VAT remittances should be sustained as recommended, saying the people in the North East Are ‘heavy drinkers.’

“My President, Distinguished Colleagues, even in the North East, they are heavy drinkers of alcoholic beverages and in a way, they are also contributing to VAT. I, therefore, ask that the recommendations should be upheld,” Ndume said.

In his ruling, the Senate President, while upholding the recommendations of the report referred it to Ad-hoc Committee with a mandate to report back in a week time.